Ever thought of growing your own Greens without a garden? We have! – thought it and have a garden 😉

Below a thorough description of how we grow wheatgrass without fuss and mess in planting pot trays in our house.

Let me just quickly announce our upcoming ‘Sprouting and Wheatgrass’ demo class on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012, from 7-9.30pm at the Wise Cicada in Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand.

Come and Learn:

• How to grow different sprouts and micro greens both in jars and on soil.
• How to most effectively grow your own wheatgrass and juice it.
• What benefits do different sprouts and micro greens offer you.
• How to grow alfalfa, red clover, fenugreek, buckwheat, radish, wheatgrass, sunflower greens, pea shoots…

Your investment only: NZD60 – just click the PayPal button below to book your seat.

Full recipe booklet and samples included.

You will learn how to confidently grow different kinds of sprouts year round and how to maximize the yield of your efforts.

And here the promised Wheatgrass ‘recipe’/growing instruction:

Yields one ø32cm tray or 240ml Wheatgrass juice

• 1 cup (250ml) organic winter wheat (sprouting quality) or for a much more intense green flavour use organic barley
• 1l ‘Agee’ jar
• Sprouting lid or mesh cloth and rubber band to cover the jar opening
• 2 big plastic flower pot trays ø32cm and approx. 3.5cm deep or something of similar size
• Approx. 1.5l organic compost soil, make sure it is sterilised (as most of the stuff you buy in bags from garden centers is) to avoid weeds and undesired micro organisms.

1^st day (front left in picture below)

Place wheat berries in jar and fill jar ¾ with water. Cover opening with sprouting lid or mesh cloth and rubber band. Leave to soak overnight.

2^nd day (front centre in picture below)

Drain the water and rinse the wheat berries a few times until water runs clear. Place jar on an angle with the opening facing down so the remaining water can drain. Make sure the jar is not exposed to direct sunlight as it can get too hot for the sprouting grains.

Rinse once more in the evening and put back again to drain.

3^rd day (front centre and right in picture below)

Rinse the now slightly sprouted grains and put jar back to keep them sprouting.

Once the wheat berries have developed small shoots and fine hairy roots it’s time to plant them.

Fill one of the trays evenly with organic compost soil, approx. 2cm high.

Carefully spread the sprouted wheat evenly over the whole soil-filled tray. Water the tray evenly with not more than 1 cup (250ml) filtered water. Cover the planted tray with the second one (upside down) and place in a warm (room temperature) spot out of direct sunlight.

5^th or 6^th day (back right in picture below)

The young plants have now probably grown strong muscles and lifted the lid. Take it off and place the tray with the young plants in a well ventilated and lit spot out of direct sun light.

Water evenly with approx. 0.5l filtered water.

6^th or 7^th day (back centre in picture below)

Water the young grass when the soil is getting dry.

When the greens are long enough and the roots have grown into a solid system, holding the soil together, you can carefully grab a fist full of greens close to the edge and lift the whole pad on one side. Now pour the water into the tray under the lifted roots. Do this equally all around the tray to make sure all plants get watered. Watering the grass this way keeps the space between the greens relatively dry which prevents mould from growing.

The plants will now tolerate a few hours daily of direct sunlight to develop their dark green colour.

8^th day (back left in picture below)

Once the greens have reached 10-15cm in heights you can start harvesting them. The optimum harvesting time is just before each individual plant brings out its second leave. At this stage the wheatgrass has its highest nutrient content. However, you can still use it afterwards.

To harvest the grass, use a sharp 20cm long chef’s knife. Starting at the outer edge of the tray, grab a fistful of greens and cut them about 1cm above the soil, avoiding any mouldy spots. Depending on the heights of the grass and its moisture content, a quarter tray of grass yields approx. 40ml of wheatgrass juice.

Put the greens in your hand directly into your wheatgrass or Greenstar juicer.

Should you not own such a juicer, you can cut the harvested greens in approx. 0.5cm long pieces and put them into a blender. Add 0.5l filtered water and blend at highest speed until the greens are completely dissolved. Now pour the blender content through a cotton cloth into a bowl or jar. Squeeze out all the juice by tightly squeezing the cotton cloth.

Wheatgrass juice is best consumed fresh as the delicate active ingredients oxidise very easily.

Keep the juice in your mouth and squish it around for 2-5 minutes. That allows the absorption to begin through your mucus membranes in your mouth and under your tongue.

To mellow the very strong ‘green’ taste try juicing carrots, apples, lemon and ginger with the wheatgrass.

When you start to take wheatgrass juice, begin with 30ml full strength juice per day. You can increase the amount or frequency day by day. Juice you make with a blender is not as strong as the one made with a juicer. That means, you can take more of it.

Dr. Gabriel Cousens recommends the use of wheatgrass juice for enema’s too. Please refer to his books: Rainbow Green Life Food Cuisine. Anne Wigmore’s books are another great resource on the topic of wheatgrass and its many uses.

To juice a whole tray of wheatgrass daily you also need to start a new jar of wheat berries a day. For a continuous process you will require 4 jars with mesh cloths and 8 big flower pot trays as well as a steady supply of sterilised organic compost soil.

The harvested root mats with soil can be put upside down directly into the garden or the garden compost.

Cheers!

See you on Wednesday, May 9th, 7-9.30pm at the Wise Cicada.

Your investment only: NZD60

Spaces are limited and bookings essential!

So book yours by clicking the PayPal button below!

Best regards and see you on Wednesday!

René

🙂